Nokia on Wednesday introduced its first smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, two devices branded "Lumia" that the company hopes will compete with Apple's iPhone lineup.

Nokia's first flagship Windows Phone handset is the Lumia 800, featuring a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBack Curved Display, a 1.4GHz processor, and 16GB of internal storage with 25GB free from Microsoft SkyDrive. It also has an instant-share camera based on Carl Zeiss optics with HD video playback for about 420 euros, excluding taxes and subsidies.

Nokia's low-end Lumia 710 is a "purposely built, no-nonsense" phone designed for social and image sharing. It sports the same 1.4GHz processor as the 800 model, and Nokia said it delivers "high performance at an affordable price" of about 270 euros, excluding taxes and subsidies.

The new smartphone lineup from Nokia isn't exclusively powered by Windows Phone, however. Also introduced on Wednesday was the Nokia Asha series with QWERTY keyboards and touchscreens that "blur the line between smartphones and feature phones."

"Eight months ago, we shared our new strategy and today we are demonstrating clear progress of this strategy in action," said Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop. "We're driving innovation throughout our entire portfolio, from new smartphone experiences to ever smarter mobile phones.

"From the Nokia Lumia 800 to the Nokia Asha 201, we are bringing compelling new products to the market faster than ever before. I'm incredibly proud of these new devices - and the people of Nokia who have made this happen."

Both of Nokia's Lumia Windows Phones feature Nokia Drive, a full-fledged personal navigation service with free turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car user interface. They also sport Nokia Music introducing MixRadio, a free global music streaming application with hundreds of channels.

The Lumia 800 is now available for preorder on Nokia's website and is scheduled to hit France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K. in November. Launches will occur in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan before the end of the year, and more markets will come in 2012.

The lower end Lumia 710 will be available in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan toward the end of the year, along with the Lumia 800. It too will be available in more markets by early 2012.

As for the U.S., Nokia said ti plans to introduce a portfolio of products stateside in early 2012. The Finnish handset maker will also make a push in mainland china in the first half of next year.

Nokia's new Lumia 800 (left) and Lumia 710 are its first Windows Phones.

The Lumia smartphones represent the first Windows Phones from Nokia as the struggling company begins its transition away from its own Symbian platform. Nokia was once the dominant worldwide smartphone maker, but the company has quickly fallen behind in the fast-growing market.

To stem its losses, Nokia brought in Elop, a former Microsoft executive, to run its company. His strategy has been to ditch the ailing Symbian platform and adopt the Windows Phone software on its smartphones. Elop admitted earlier this year that his company was "feeling the heat" to bring its first Windows Phones to market in 2011.

Nokia's unveiling of its first Windows Phones comes only weeks after Apple introduced its latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 4S. As part of its fast worldwide launch, the iPhone 4S will be available in 29 countries by the end of this month and more than 70 countries by the end of the year.

[QUOTE=AppleInsider;1974608]Nokia on Wednesday introduced its first smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, two devices branded "Lumia" that the company hopes will compete with Apple's iPhone lineup.

Why not target Android? When you read Android fan sites, the chatter sounds exactly like it did in the 80s and 90s when people argued Windows vs. Apple. Now it's iOS vs. Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich or some other cloying variant of Android.

Most Android fans seem to be VERY disgruntled with Microsoft. Or just disgruntled as a core value.

It's quite possible that if/when Windows 8 takes off among people that need content-creation pads, rather than one primarily focused on content-consumption, there may be a halo-effect where people will be attracted to Windows phone.

I'm a Mac and iPhone fan, but when I checked out the Windows phone at the shops, I thought it looked decent.

Nokia realised that to succeed in the smartphone wars, it needs developers to create apps, and it realised it did not have a hope of creating an app base anywhere near Apple's. With Windows 8 on the horizon, and with Microsoft's large user base, it is very likely Microsoft will catch up with Apple in the app numbers game, which aids Nokia.

We will only know where this smartphone game is headed about 2 years after the launch of Windows 8.

From here on, the smartphone game is tied to the fate of Windows 8, and whether Windows 8 can generate a halo effect of people getting Windows phones.

Six months?? I think it's quite obvious right now that it's a total fackin' failure.

What's obvious is you don't know your ass from a hole in the wall.

Microsoft was slow out of the gate watching and waiting like a predator. They "were" the only game in the smartphone market for years. Then iOS happened which took the smartphone market in a completely new direction. A direction Microsoft wasn't prepared for. 5 years later they have deployed Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (a great but young mobile OS)and have essentially purchased a phone manufacturer (Nokia). Over the next 12 months we're going to see a "sleeping giant" enter the mobile phone arena.

I still do not understand how the Nokia cloner Windows Phone is different from any of the other cloner Windows Phones. Same fugly, unusable OS with text scrolling off to the right all over the place. Same crappy Zune services. Locked to the proprietary Microsoft Windows platform. Locked to the crappy BING services.

How is the Nokia cloner Windows Phone going to all of a sudden get people to look past all the failings of Windows Phone and start buying? Makes no sense. People already rejected Windows Phone from all the other cloners.

I'm not convinced that the "large user base" of Microsoft PC users represent a natural potential customer for a Windows driven phone. That's probably the thing that MS has not figured out - integration of phone to pc. Apple got that early on - and MS just doesn't seem to understand they need to tie things together, to make things not just easy to use, but transparent. That is the direction that Apple has been going and it's where Android just completely falls apart.

Most people don't just own a smart phone. They have a laptop or desktop too - and making things work between them - and going further into their other tech products, like stereos and tv is the direction we are headed, like it or not.

Microsoft was slow out of the gate watching and waiting like a predator. They "were" the only game in the smartphone market for years. Then iOS happened which took the smartphone market in a completely new direction. A direction Microsoft wasn't prepared for. 5 years later they have deployed Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (a great but young mobile OS)and have essentially purchased a phone manufacturer (Nokia). Over the next 12 months we're going to see a "sleeping giant" enter the mobile phone arena.

Microsoft was slow out of the gate watching and waiting like a predator. They "were" the only game in the smartphone market for years. Then iOS happened which took the smartphone market in a completely new direction. A direction Microsoft wasn't prepared for. 5 years later they have deployed Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (a great but young mobile OS)and have essentially purchased a phone manufacturer (Nokia). Over the next 12 months we're going to see a "sleeping giant" enter the mobile phone arena.

iOS and Android have a lot to fear.

I'm printing this out and putting on my wall. Your either very right or very wrong, it'll be fun to see which, especially as you are so rude and arrogant.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

No. They didnt ignore it. They released sub-par products to FOOL apple into thinking they were ignoring the market. Right now they're "sleeping giants" , but just you wait and see. In five years they're going to release a music player that finally *blows away* the 2001 original iPod. This will send Apple into a tailspin; flailing to compete with anything they can get to market ASAP.

I'd love to design an ad for Apple. A three your old is given a Windows phone to play with to keep it quiet and the adult says "Here you go, you will be able to use this with your chubby little fingers." the toddler looks at it then toss it over his shoulder and pulls an iPhone out of his diapers and says "Siri, where is mom?"

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Microsoft was slow out of the gate watching and waiting like a predator. They "were" the only game in the smartphone market for years. Then iOS happened which took the smartphone market in a completely new direction. A direction Microsoft wasn't prepared for. 5 years later they have deployed Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (a great but young mobile OS)and have essentially purchased a phone manufacturer (Nokia). Over the next 12 months we're going to see a "sleeping giant" enter the mobile phone arena.

iOS and Android have a lot to fear.

LOL, We have been hearing about this "fear" Apple should have for years. Microsoft's last shot is Nokia and I'll bet Android and RIM will be the ones that would take a hit. If and that's a big IF, WM gains any traction.

Ugliest UI ever :roll eyes: Though its minimalistic and clean there is no sense of symmetry and "lacks taste" These guys can't find a good designer to copy Apple after all these years with all their $ ???

It's quite possible that if/when Windows 8 takes off among people that need content-creation pads, rather than one primarily focused on content-consumption, there may be a halo-effect where people will be attracted to Windows phone.

And what makes you think that Apple won't beat M$ to the punch when it comes to creation? They are already doing it. Wait until they release Office for iPad (because they realize they have to). It's game over.

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I'm a Mac and iPhone fan, but when I checked out the Windows phone at the shops, I thought it looked decent.

I have not seen one in person, but I've HATED the appearance of the UI ever since I first saw it. It looks clunky and dated. I realize they are going for simplicity, but honestly...it's a bunch of random ass blue rectangles of different sized. Really?

Quote:

Nokia realised that to succeed in the smartphone wars, it needs developers to create apps, and it realised it did not have a hope of creating an app base anywhere near Apple's. With Windows 8 on the horizon, and with Microsoft's large user base, it is very likely Microsoft will catch up with Apple in the app numbers game, which aids Nokia.

I don't think it's very likely at all, though I agree with the first statement you made re: having a platform. Microsoft has shown no ability to compete with Apple in this area. They've been trying since Zune, and we know how that worked out.

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We will only know where this smartphone game is headed about 2 years after the launch of Windows 8.

That's like saying we'll only know who will be in the Super Bowl after the championship games. What we know now is Apple is pretty owning everyone with one phone instead instead of hundreds running slightly dfferent OSes.

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From here on, the smartphone game is tied to the fate of Windows 8, and whether Windows 8 can generate a halo effect of people getting Windows phones.

I really don't think that will happen. Also, understand that Apple's halo effect was the exact opposite. They used iTunes to sell iPods, which in turn created the halo effect on Apple's computers through their established and growing retail business. Apple has since transformed itself into a global icon and and household name. It's transcended being a computer company/software company and become a brand.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either.